Restaurant portion sizes are huge

[Paq]

Does anyone else find this? Went to a pub/restaurant last night and the portion sizes were insane. I managed a third of my salad, brought the rest home and shared it with DH for lunch today. DD got through half her curry and 6'1" hollow legged DH just about managed to finish his risotto but then felt overstuffed all night.

No wilful misrepresented, no tomatoes whatsoever

No it’s wilful misrepresented, no tomatoes whatsoever

Ooh, I'm sooo wilful! How very dare I disagree with you @EspressoDoubleShot...?

.....but I do. Respectfully of course.

@EspressoDoubleShot

And you still never said what the 'holistic approach', to tackle the nation's obesity problem, you mentioned earlier would include. It's all very fine to sit there criticising other people's ideas but come up with (or at least share none of) your own...

Go on, put your money where your mouth is! (metaphorically speaking).

Hi there,
We can see things are getting rather heated on this thread, and a little personal, so we'd suggest those involved take a wee keyboard break? It's hard to have a different opinion, we know that, so no fingers are being pointed, but we'd rather this didn't develop into a giant-sized bunfight.

My brain can't compute 😂😂😂

I've never started a bun fight before

I hope that’s a calorie controlled bun!

Not any old buns were mentioned, it was 'giant-sized' ones! Quite an apt warning, a bun like that (along with being far too massive for one person to eat in a sitting) could knock someone out if hurled at them...

Although I think a nicely aimed egg cup of dessert could do some damage!

I simply said obesity is biopsychosocial which is self evident.I did not extravagantly claim there was a govt document supporting my assertion and then paraphrase or misrepresent it’s contents

I don’t need to substantiate my posts because I’m not claiming to be aligned to govt policy. I’m not a policy maker I’ll leave strategy and implementation to the Govt

I only asked you for your ideas over what should be done regarding obesity @EspressoDoubleShot. It's very easy to criticise other people's ideas but not so easy to offer your own ideas up for scrutiny.

I didn't claim the government policy to be aligned to mine, I actually was careful to openly acknowledge how their policy varied from my own ideas. What I did, though was point out how the government are, just like myself, concerned over the amount of calories in the meals available at eating establishments, when they say this:

"That’s why when it comes to food and drink, we want to ensure everyone has the right information, that they are offered a fair deal and that they are not unduly influenced to purchase less healthy foods and drinks. Put simply, we want the healthy option to be an easier option for everyone."

"On average the portions of food or drink that people eat out or eat as takeaway meals contain twice as many caloriess as their equivalent bought in a shop[footnote 20]. Research suggests that food we eat outside the home makes up 20 to 25% of adult calorie intake[footnote 21]_."

(From report linked to upthread)

I do feel therefore our government share a similar ethos to myself regarding the concerns they have highlighted over the greater comparative calorific values of meals bought from eating establishments when out but that is not the same as claiming the resulting policy ideas align exactly with my own.

Some things that would help with the obesity crisis:

All schools doing the ‘daily mile’ - all pupils and staff walk/jog/run round the playground for 20 minutes at the start of the school day.

Cooking goes back on the curriculum - proper cookery lessons, where kids learn the basic skills of cookery - peeling, chopping, sautéing, creaming, folding etc etc - so they can pick up a cookery book and follow a recipe.

Add to that, education on nutrition and a balanced diet.

Subsidise healthy food for people on low incomes, and provide cookery courses for people who don’t know how to cook/follow a recipe.

Make council run sports facilities affordable, or subsidise them for people on low incomes.

All sounds good @SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

But how do you think what people want to eat is affected by trends in what is commercially available at eating establishments? And how do you think what is made available at eating establishments affects perceptions of a reasonable portion size for different types of food?

Speaking for myself, when I eat out, I want something I couldn’t make at home. I expect good quality, well cooked food. I don’t think I expect, or serve bigger portions at home, because I’ve been served bigger portions in restaurants.

I think people need a good relationship with food. I know my relationship with food is poor, and that is related to depression and poor health. I’m not a sporty or outdoorsy person, but I do wonder whether more inspiring, better PE teaching at school might have made me more sporty - but I did PE in the 70s and the teachers focused on the kids who were good at sport, and never did anything to help the rest of us improve - so I left school convinced that I was utterly crap at PE, and always would be.

I’m not saying that better teaching would have had me in the Olympics, but it might have helped me develop a liking for sport that would have helped me not to become overweight and unfit.

My problem is that my depression, anxiety and low self esteem mean that I hate myself, and it is damn hard to care for yourself when you don’t even like yourself.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

That's interesting. You see I do consider myself to have a good relationship with food. Like you, I like good food and am especially impressed when I'm served food which I would never have cooked myself. I have learnt which types of food trigger an increased physical hunger with me (too much sugar/simple carbohydrates) and don't really binge since I discovered that. I also discovered protein rich and fat rich foods satiate my physical hunger very well. I have discovered also that my hunger is also greatly influenced by habit. I tend to want food at my usual mealtimes unless I'm very pre-occupied with an activity. Years ago, though I used to feel sick and shaky if I didn't eat for a while. I haven't since I cut down on simple sugar and carbs and can fast without feeling particularly jittery or hungry, I just find the lack of having defined mealtimes quite boring.

Relating to this thread, I did realise my portion sizes had slipped into being too large when I found I was putting weight on in middle age and wanted to lose weight. I live with 2 men and we all now have Fitness trackers and I realised I shouldn't be eating as much as them as I don't burn nowhere near as many calories. But I was previously. Added to this we previously ate out once a week and I felt like the meal was just like a big dinner so I would have a lunch sized type meal and breakfast for the rest of the day. If the menu was labelled clearly I would have realised this was not the case, it's far more calorific than a single meal should be for someone of my physique. When I was dieting to help lose the weight I did realise and that's when I had to try and negotiate ordering lower calorie options which I haven't found particularly easy. Not because I feel unduly hungry eating less but because of what eating establishments make available.

I agree PE education could improve. Too often people expect people with a more ordinary level of skill as a beginner just to give up. Sport can be very elitist. I started slow running and was happy running slowly because I was actually running when before I though I couldn't. There has been too much of an obsession with speed in the past and it still exists in some circles. I run 10k a day now and have got faster.

Oh and I stopped binging on chocolate after working for a chocolatiers and developing a taste for rather expensive good quality chocolate. It's more satisfying/richer and I can be happy eat it in small amounts. Added to this my bank balance wouldn't afford eating too much of it!

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius you are completely right that you have to like, value and have time for yourself to lose weight and keep it off in a healthy, non punitive way 💐

I've lost 49 kg now (seven and a half stone ish) and in my opinion it is 95% a psychological process.

In my opinion also, most people know perfectly well whether they're eating too much and whether what they eat is healthy, and the resons they eat a lot or less are nothing whatsoever to do with restaurant portion sizes.

Actual obesity (BMI over 30) is never solely an issue of portion sizes imo.

I've been doing intermittent fasting and mostly avoiding sugar and wheat to lose weight, plus a lot of walking - no need to run or gym). I sometimes eat two meals (usually a small healthy lunch like salad leaves or steamed vegetables and fish or porridge with a banana and then home cooked family dinner), but sometimes I just eat one meal per day - maybe twice per week. I could eat a 1500 calorie restaurant meal and not eat anything else that day, very happily. I would be incredibly annoyed if I were served a smaller portion than my 6 ft 4 husband who eats three meals plus snacks to my one meal. If I'm ever served too much I don't "struggle", I just leave it.

Restaurants waste loads of food in the kitchen - more than what's left on plates.

Yes I do. Perhaps you should be able to order a child sized portion of all dishes. Why are children's meals all fast-food type and not menu meals made smaller? I am sure there is something on most menus that children would eat, both could be offered to cover all bases.
I have Crohns and no gall bladder so can't eat a great amount in one go & would welcome a smaller portion rather than the offer of a doggy bag all the time.

In my opinion also, most people know perfectly well whether they're eating too much and whether what they eat is healthy, and the resons they eat a lot or less are nothing whatsoever to do with restaurant portion sizes.

Well, I didn't know I was eating too much.🤷‍♀️ I was stumped until I delved right into it and got a fitness tracker and worked out my calorie consumption. If you look at some of the diet threads there are others like me, can't understand why they can't lose weight. I knew I wasn't magic but also that the types of food I ate were broadly pretty health. Cooked from scratch apart from eating out once a week. Didn't eat between meals.

Re the USA comments... years ago, when younger so able to eat more...on a road trip my US friend and I ordered one meal and two plates everywhere. Not always a smooth process and some compromises had to be made.. ha ha. The steak plate in Arizona and steak on it are still the biggest I have ever seen.

I would be incredibly annoyed if I were served a smaller portion than my 6 ft 4 husband who eats three meals plus snacks to my one meal.

Well, no one is saying you should be served a smaller portion unless you order one. I'm only advocating choice. You say you would choose not to eat for the rest of the day if your meal was big. I prefer 3 smaller meals a day rather than 1 big meal. I don't think I'm so unusual. We sit and eat our meals together as a family and I enjoy the social interaction as well as the food.

amispeakingenglish money. It isn't half the cost to produce half a portion. In fact the saving is sometimes only pennies, depending upon what the meal is. For restaurants serving cheaper food, ingredients might only be 20% of costs - so a half portion should cost 90% of the price of a full, and customers would expect a half portion to be half price.

Children's menus are often loss leaders to get parents and other adults in ordering full price food and ideally (from the restaurant's point of view) more profitable drinks.